Validation of aflatoxin B1 MIP membrane-based smartphone sensor system for real sample applications

Aim. To calibrate and validate of innovative MIP membrane-based smartphone sensor system for aflatoxin B1 detection in real cereal samples. Methods. Porous molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) membranes were synthesized according to the technique of molecular imprinting using the method of in situ polymerization. As a dummy template, ethyl-2-oxocyclopentanecar-boxylate was used. Acrylamide was used as a functional monomer according to the results of molecular dynamics. Porous 60 µm-thick MIP membranes were obtained using UV polymerization for 30 min (Sergeyeva et al. 2017). The Fluorescent sensor responses of AFB1 binding to the selective MIP membrane surface were recorded by the spectrofluorimeter as well as smartphone camera and further analyzed by smartphone application Spotxel® Reader (Sicasys Software GmbH, Germany). Results. The calibration plots for both MIP membrane-based fluorescent sensor system and smartphone sensor system were obtained. The possibility of successful application of the proposed sensor systems to analyze AFB1 in real samples was demonstrated. Conclusions. The MIP membrane-based smartphone sensor was calibrated and validated for reliable and robust aflatoxin B1 detection in the real cereal samples. The proposed MIP membrane-based smartphone sensor system provides affordable, sensitive, and equipment-free technique for AFB1 analysis compared to the traditional analytical methods.